Jade turned, ready to lead Max out of the office like a protective mother hen.
Rage boiled through my veins. My hands trembled as I roared, "Jade! Are you joking? He's incompetent! He doesn't meet the baseline requirements. What kind of message does this send to the other employees?"
She stopped. Turned slowly. Ice filled her eyes.
"I said what I said. I will personally take him to the Zhou Group negotiations."
Her chin lifted in defiance. "And when this deal closes, he will replace you as the top salesperson of the year."
Jade had it all calculated. She wanted to groom him. Unfortunately, Max Pruitt was mud—you couldn't build a wall with him no matter how hard you tried.
She took him to the client meeting, but Max treated the business trip like a vacation. Social media check-ins. Photos of food and scenery. Zero preparation for the actual negotiation. They ate, drank, played—completely ignoring the contract.
The clients at the Zhou Group were insulted. They had never seen such an arrogant vendor.
Furious, they canceled the order.
Three months of grueling overtime by the entire company—about to go down the drain.
I couldn't let that happen. Desperate, I called in every favor I had. Half a month without sleep. Every night drinking with executives, schmoozing, apologizing, destroying my liver until I managed to salvage the deal and minimize the losses.
When Jade brought Max back, there was no apology. She simply processed his paperwork and made him a permanent employee.
The staff was furious but silent. They looked at me with pity.
My fists clenched until my knuckles cracked. The next day, explicit photos of Max from his past life as a male escort mysteriously appeared in every employee's inbox.
Max didn't show up for work.
That night, my bedroom door slammed open.
Jade stormed in, face twisted in fury. Before I could speak, her hand connected hard with my cheek.
*Slap!*
Her long, manicured nails grazed my nose. Disgust burned in her eyes.
"Andrew Mason, you make me sick. How low can you sink?" Her scream echoed off the walls. "Do you know Max is an orphan? He has no family in this city! He was forced into that life!"
A finger jabbed into my chest. "Everyone has a past they want to bury. You exposing his scars like this—how is he supposed to survive now?"
She hadn't held back. My cheek throbbed, swelling instantly.
I ran my tongue over the tender flesh inside my mouth. Tasted copper. "Jade, have you forgotten?" My voice came out flat. "I'm an orphan too. I don't have a single relative in this city either."
I stepped closer. "As my wife, you publicly humiliate me for him, again and again. How am I supposed to survive?"
Guilt flickered across her face for a split second before she hardened her heart. "How can you compare yourself to him? You've been street-smart since you were a kid—you've even been in juvenile detention. Max is sensitive. It's not the same."
She convinced herself she was righteous. With cruel resolve, she pulled her phone from her bag. "Don't blame me, Andrew. I have to give Max justice."
My stomach dropped.
*What did she do?*
My phone buzzed violently in my pocket. I pulled it out.
Jade had uploaded a photo of me from years ago. Right after I got out of detention—filthy, fighting stray dogs for scraps of food in an alley.
The comments poured in instantly.
*"Is this the CEO's husband? A beggar?"*
*"Disgusting."*
Mockery. Disgust. Memes.
The malice washed over me. I looked up at Jade's smug face.
Something inside me died.
"Jade." My voice sounded hollow, even to my own ears. "I want a divorce."
"What did you say?" She frowned.
Before she could argue, her phone rang. Max's voice drifted from the speaker, weak and trembling.
"Jade... thank you for everything these past few months."
